Snow, Cold and Ice
by wolfchic011
Summary: A three-shot meant as a 'prequel' to the movie. My take on where several things from the trailers come from, mainly: why Anna recognizes Olaf, why Elsa is so scared of her powers and why Elsa gets so upset when she fights with Anna after her coronation. I've sort of spliced together things I know from the actual scenes from the movie and created some dialogue to make it all fit.
1. Part 1: Snow

_Snow_

"Hurry up Elsa!"

"Anna! Come back here and put your mittens on!"

My three-year old sister bounced up and down in the gently falling snow, giggling madly as I brandished the gloves at her. "It's so pretty Elsa!" She threw herself face first into a snow drift, the action sending a burst of power up into the swirling snowflakes still falling.

"Anna! You're going to get soaking wet!" I chastised her as I followed her into the snow drift, brandishing the mittens. Unfortunately, the snow bank was deeper than I thought. I fell in up to my knees, snow falling into the tops of my boots. Startled, I over-balanced and softly fell onto the cushion of snow next to my sister with a _whump_.

"I thought you weren't going to roll in the snow, Elsa?" Anna asked, her head tilted to the side.

I sat up, spitting snow out of my mouth. "I wasn't planning on it…" I muttered, wiping my lips with the back of my mitten. I grabbed her hands and forced the small mittens onto them. She allowed me to cover up her hands but fidgeted the whole time. It was like trying to get a hyper-active puppy who had to pee to sit still.

"Now that I have my mittens on, you'll play with me?" Anna asked when I was finished.

"Yes, Anna." I told her. That was the whole reason I'd come outside with her. She'd woken up this morning and had begged me to take her out in the snow to play. I'd held her off all morning through breakfast and lessons, promising that if she was good I'd take her out before dinner. Now here we were, Anna still as hyper as she'd been this morning and me tired of getting her to sit still.

Anna grinned. "Good!" Next second, she tackled me around the middle. "I've got you!"

I grunted as I fell back into the snow under her weight. "Anna! Get off!"

She squirmed on top of me, trying to locate the ticklish spot she knew I had on the left side of my stomach. But with both of us wrapped up in far too many layers, her search was proving difficult.

Anna and I continued to giggle and tussle in the snow bank together, shrieking and laughing as we kicked up snow and randomly took turns rolling the other over.

For a girl barely past her toddler days, Anna was strong.

Finally, I managed to push Anna far enough away from me that I could sit up.

"_Enough_, Anna!" I told her sternly but the statement lacked conviction as I was still flushed from laughter. I brushed snow off of my coat and took deep, steady breaths to slow my heart rate. Wrestling with Anna had elevated it and it seemed like the snow was falling faster now then it had been when we'd first jumped, or in my case, fell into the snow bank.

Anna grabbed my wet mitten in both her hands and tugged on it. "Can we build a snow-person Elsa?" She asked, her eyes wide with excitement at her new idea for fun. "Can we? Can we?"

I knew she wouldn't shut up unless I gave in. I threw my hands up, the falling snow swirling heavily around them. "Alright! Fine! I'll start on the body, you work on his head." I was just glad she hadn't suggested a snow ball fight. Probably because she knew I'd win. My snow balls never missed.

Anna nodded enthusiastically and bounded a little ways away into the snow. Then she squatted down and began to scoop the surrounding snow towards her.

I picked myself out of the snow bank with surprising ease. The snow just seemed to fall away from me.

Walking a little ways from the snow bank, I picked out a spot where we would build our masterpiece. A little ways away from the snow bank, the courtyard leveled out under a more even cover of snow. It appeared the caretakers had cleared the courtyard earlier to form our snow bank then it had snowed even heavier and they hadn't had a chance to clear it again.

I fell to my knees in the snow and reached forward to scoop some snow towards toward me. I worked quickly and efficiently, the snow just seemed to want to go wherever my hands were guiding it. In no time at all I had our snowman's base ready.

I took a break and leaned back to look upwards. Snowflakes swirled around me, each unique in its own right, each one no bigger than the tip of a knitting needle. A smile came to my face as I stared at the descending silence. Watching the snow fall always transfixed me. Snowfall just made everything _right_. It made things slow down and stay still for awhile. You didn't get that from any other kind of weather. Sunshine was too active, clouds too depressing and rain too harrying. But when the air grew cold and frozen water began to fall from the sky, everything went quiet. Everything seemed to pause and hold its breath as the flakes gracefully dropped from the sky and floated sweetly down until they met the earth below.

I sighed in contentment and closed my eyes to better feel the flakes caress my skin. Snowfall had always calmed me, winter was my favorite time of year exactly for that reason. I didn't like the heat of summer or even the gentle warmth of spring, they always made me feel wrong, anxious. But every time it snowed, something in me seemed to fall back into place and I found myself inexplicably happy. Today in particular, I was in the snow with my little sister, away from the palace, rolling in the snow so much it almost felt like I was becoming a part of it. Just another piece of this silent, beautiful, cold landscape.

My left hand suddenly felt wet inside my mitten. My eyes snapped open and I squirmed in discomfort. Was there a hole in my mittens? Had some snow gotten inside?

I pulled off one of my mittens and examined the bare hand before me. It was dry but I could feel something cold on my palm. I flicked my hand, trying to make the feeling go away.

The wind suddenly seemed to pick up and abruptly, a large parcel of snow rolled from the snow bank and landed squat on the base I'd just built, forming a perfect middle as if by design.

I pulled my hand close to my chest as the cold feeling faded. That was odd. It was almost like the snow had just moved where I'd wanted it to. I quickly pulled my mitten back on and climbed back to my feet, my eyes never leaving the rouge pile of snow. It sat there innocently, moving no more than any other mound of snow around it.

There was a grunt behind me and I turned to see my sister struggling to lift a massive wad of snow that was nearly the same size as her.

"Where are you going with that?" I asked her, amused as she stumbled and juggled the thing in her hands.

Anna beamed up at me from behind the monster ball of snow. "It's his head!" She told me as she waddled up to me. Promptly, she turned it over into my hands. "Here!"

"Anna," I said carefully, holding the misshapen ball of snow in my hand. "This isn't round, its oval."

"It looks more like a head." Anna told me, undeterred. "No one has a round head, Elsa!"

I smiled. Three years old and already she was stubborn. "You're right." I agreed. "Our snowman will have a properly shaped head." I held the head in my left hand and offered her my right. "Come on."

She took my hand and I helped her clamber over to the body I'd constructed. I lifted the head up. "Here, I'll put the head on and you pile on some snow for his neck so it doesn't fall off."

Anna nodded and scooped up a large handful of snow as I carefully lowered the head onto the body. She packed it around the head as I held it steady.

When we were certain the head was not going to fall off, we released it and admired our handiwork.

The snowman's body was rounded towards the bottom, almost like those stuffy politicians that always came to visit dad. His feet were pretty small by comparison but they looked up to the task of supporting him. The "correctly" shaped head Anna had fashioned for him was the thinnest part of him but it had a certain character to it one didn't see with snowmen who had rounded heads. I quite liked it.

We managed to find him some arms, buttons and eyes by digging through the kindling pile under the courtyard overhang. Anna and I took several tries to find the right pair of arms and got very lucky when two nearly identical sticks that seemed to have fingers appeared in our pile.

"He's done!" Anna cried in delight as I carefully pressed his small coal eyes into his face.

"Almost done." I corrected her. Anna looked at me curiously, not understanding. I smiled and reached into my pocket to pull out my prize: a huge carrot I'd swiped earlier this morning from the stables.

"You get to put on his nose in." I told my sister as her eyes widened. She took the carrot from me and slowly walked to stand in front of our creation.

Anna stood up on tiptoe and pushed the carrot into place on our snowman's face. The carrot was crooked and fat towards the wrong end but somehow it matched our misshapen snowman perfectly.

With a final pat to make sure the carrot would stay, Anna stepped back and stood next to me.

"What do we call him?" Anna asked me, taking my hand.

I found I didn't have to think very hard before the name came to mind. "Olaf."

Anna giggled. "Olaf? I like it!"

At that moment, Elie, our nursemaid came running outside shouting that father _hadbeenlookingforus_ and _whatwerewedoingouthereinthesnow_,_werewetryingtocatchourdeathofcold_?

I pulled Anna back inside but not before she ran back to the snowman we'd built and pulled him into an undoubtedly very warm hug.

"Bye Olaf. I'll miss you when you melt."

Then she darted back to my side and wrapped her arms around my waist in a tight hug.

I smiled, wrapping an arm around her as I guided us inside. Anna gave the best hugs.


	2. Part 2: Cold

_Cold_

For some reason, I couldn't sleep that night. Even after playing all afternoon in the snow and a nice warm mug of tea, a heavy cold still seemed to cling to my limbs and chest.

But it didn't make me uncomfortable. It felt natural, like this was the normal temperature I was supposed to be.

I wrapped my arms around myself to try to warm up, transfixed by the falling snow outside my window. Tonight's snowfall was slow and lazy, almost like it was waiting for something.

I pulled my cold feet under my body. The echo of my sister's hug seemed to cling to me but feebly, almost like it was only a memory of what warm felt like and not actual warmth. Was I getting sick? I placed my hand to my forehead but felt nothing that was not normal.

"Elsa?" I turned at the voice and saw Anna standing there beside my bed, rubbing her eyes.

I smiled at her. "Hey Anna. What is it?" Most nights, my little sister ended up sneaking into my room and sleeping in my bed. I didn't mind it at all, Anna always cuddled up close to me and wrapped her tiny hands around my arm like it was her favorite stuffed animal. Her presence had the same effect on me that falling snow did.

"I want to play in the snow." Anna told me.

I gestured to the window, where the snow continued to swirl. "We can't now, Anna. It's dark." The lanterns in the courtyard were off and with this new blanket of snow we'd probably be stuck up to our hips.

Anna pouted at me. "But Olaf will be lonely!" She protested.

I didn't tell her the caretakers had already knocked Olaf down. "He's strong, he'll be okay." I was already planning to sneak out early in the morning to make some 'footprints' so she wouldn't be upset by his disappearance.

I unwrapped my arms from around my legs and held them open for Anna. "Come here."I told her softly. She fell against me, clearly exhausted but still stubbornly keeping her eyes open.

I chuckled and gently lifted her onto the bed beside me. "Come and watch the snow with me."

She leaned heavily against my side and we both gazed out the window. The snow seemed to have slowed down even more, almost like time had stopped. We sat there together for a long time, Anna struggling to keep her eyes open and me wide-awake, holding her close and staring at the snow.

"We'll go out in the morning." I promised her. We'd make Olaf a lady friend and build a snow fort out of the pile of snow we'd rolled in today. Maybe Anna would want to have a snowball fight. I'd go easy on her.

Anna let out a huge yawn and weakly pounded my side.

"Want to play…now…" She mumbled.

A sudden gush of protectiveness rushed through me and I squeezed her a little tighter. I hated seeing Anna upset. The cold feeling within me was rising, spreading from my chest, down my arms and into my hands. My hands were tingling with that same wet feeling from before, like water inside of me was rushing to fill up my hand. I held out my left hand, my right still being gently wrapped around my sister. The cold, wet feeling grew stronger, filling my entire body. I felt like an icicle except for the tiny warm spot where my sister's warmth pressed against me.

A mighty shiver suddenly tore through me and all my muscles seemed to clench and release at once.

The window in front of us flew open as some kind of wave of air burst from me in all directions. I pulled away from the sudden gust of cold air from outside, my left hand swinging behind me.

A burst of snow suddenly filled the room. I stared in shock. Where had that come from? No snow had come through the window, it was still falling gently outside. And yet here was a huge pile of snow, sitting in the middle of my floor.

I stared at my hand. The cold feeling had faded somewhat but remained sitting in my palm much like the echo of my sister's hugs. Had it come from me?

"Anna…" I shook her gently but urgently. "Anna, wake up!"

She groggily opened her eyes at looked up at me questioningly. "What Elsa?"

A brilliant smile touched my face and spread to my eyes. I gestured toward the room. "I brought the snow to you." I didn't know how, but somehow, this funny feeling in my hands and the cold inside of me had created snow. I waved my hand again and more snow burst from the tips of my fingers and fell from the ceiling just like it did outside. The rush of cold ran through me but the feeling triggered no discomfort. If anything, it made me feel great. More alive. I giggled.

Anna gasped, instantly wide-awake. "Elsa! It's beautiful!" She pulled herself away from me and ran over to the pile of snow. Slowly, as if fearing this was some kind of illusion that would break, she reached out and brushed the snow with her fingers. She gasped as she realized it was real.

Then with a squeal of delight, Anna plunged her hands into the snow and scooped up a large handful of snow. She lobed it at me and it smashed against my shoulder.

"Hey!" There was suddenly a large ball of snow in my hand, as if I'd scooped it freshly from the pile next to Anna. "It's not nice to throw snow at the person who got it for you!" I scolded her with a grin.

I threw my snowball and like always, it hit its intended target dead-on: my sister's stomach. She let out a gasp that quickly became a giggle. "Elsa!" She shrieked. She ran at me and tackled me sending us rolling backwards on my bed. This time she found my weak spot and attacked it mercilessly. I gasped and chuckled as I desperately tried to get away from her. Snow kept shooting out of my fingers every time I drew breath.

Finally, after several breathless minutes of wrestling and tickling, we collapsed onto the floor, breathing hard.

I felt warm again. Full of life.

The questions spiraled through my mind as surely as the blood in my veins. What was this thing I could do? I could create snow! How? Why? Could I control it?

Anna's quiet whimper shook me from my euphoria. "Elsa…? C…cc…cold…"

"Anna?" I turned my head to look at her and sat up quickly. "Anna!"

She was shivering violently, her teeth chattering together so hard I feared they would break. Her breath gathered in tight puffs above her mouth. Was it so cold in here? I felt nothing.

I glanced around and drew a gasp of surprise. The room was blanketed in snow now, this was the only spot not currently buried.

Anna curled up into herself, hugging her knees in an effort to keep warm.

I touched her cheek and she flinched away from me like I'd held an icicle to her face.

To my horror, I saw a thin film of ice creeping across her cheek, like frost on a flower.

"Anna!"

I lay beside her, wrapping her in my arms and pressing myself closer to her but soon realized it was doing nothing. I was as cold as the air around us.

"Help!" I screamed as her lips turned blue and icicles formed on the tip of her nose and eyelashes. Her eyes were starting to droop. "Help! Help!"

The door to our room burst open and father stormed in, his presence akin to that of a raging fire. The heat of his entranced seared across my skin and I inexplicably felt like something was melting.

In less time than it took to blink, he was next to us, ripping my sister from my arms. He scooped up Anna and held her to his chest then rushed from the room his steps easily plowing through the foot or so of snow on the floor.

I remained behind, sitting in the snow. Not feeling the cold.

* * *

Anna was okay. Father had taken her straight to his room and wrapped her in as many blankets as he could without suffocating her. Then he wrapped her tiny form tenderly in his arms and held her in front of the fire, slowly rocking back and forth.

I watched all this from the doorway. I was too afraid to enter the room, to afraid to try to help. What if I froze her again?

It was dawn before either of us moved. Father stood and gently lay the now-sleeping and rosy-cheeked Anna down on his bed. Then he turned to face me at last. I flinched as he crossed the room.

Father grabbed my arm and threw me into the hallway. Pulling the door closed behind him, he rounded on me, eyes blazing.

"Elsa, what were you thinking?!"

"Father… I…"

He would not hear me. "Why would you leave the window open, and not only that but bring snow inside? You know Anna is delicate, why would you put her in danger?"

"But I…"

"If you are ever going to be ruler of this kingdom, you need to learn to make the right judgments. You need to learn to control every impulsive urge you have!"

My throat tightened and I lowered my head. On her deathbed, Mother had told me not to cry in front of father. _Be the strong princess he needs…_

I was failing.

Father took a few deep breaths before speaking again. "Elsa…" He said gently. "Your sister depends on you to protect her. And one day the whole kingdom will do the same. Sometimes you have to give of yourself and do whatever it takes to make sure that the people who matter most are safe."

He gently took my chin in his hands and turned my head back up. I wished I could freeze off the tear tracts on my face. But if father thought any less of me for showing weakness, he didn't show his emotions as obviously as I did.

"You two are all I have." He told me. I was surprised to see his eyes were wet too. Father never cried. He gently held my shoulder in his other hand. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost either of you. Promise me that you'll always take care of Anna."

I nodded, another tear falling. "I promise."

He pulled me into a quick hug but I flinched. The cold was spreading through me again, what if I froze him too?

Luckily, he pulled away quickly.

"Go and get some sleep." He told me. "I'll have the tutor come tomorrow instead." Then he opened the door and went back to keep watch over my sister.

I stood there in the hallway for a long time, breathing hard as the cold rivulets of power churned through me.

I hadn't left the window open. It had blown open when my hands had grown cold. The snow had come from _me_. Father hadn't realized this, he thought I'd made the trek down to the courtyard and carried the snow upstairs to my room.

Father didn't know what I had really done.

I'd almost killed my sister. With magic.

Magic was a thing of the past. No one had it anymore. It was a source of legends and stories meant to keep children from wandering too far from home. Witches were not princesses. Witches hid on the fringes of the wilderness. Witches killed anyone who dared venture near them. I was not a witch. But I had the power. Power that had almost killed the person closest to me.

I clenched my freezing hands tightly as snow gathered at my fingertips. I had to keep it hidden, no one could know. Otherwise I'd be killed or thrown out of the kingdom. Then Arendelle would not have a queen, our land would fall into chaos…

It was up to me to stop that from happening. I had to keep everyone safe, I had to provide for my subjects. And that meant keeping these powers under wraps.

My hands were now encased in ice. I gripped the banister at the top of the stairs tightly and drew several deeps breaths of the suddenly cold air around me. A cracking sound alerted me to the fact that ice was now spreading from my hand to the banister. I ripped my hands away and pulled them close to myself.

My feet carried me back to my room at a sprint, leaving a trail of cold air behind me. When I finally reached the doors, I kicked them open and dashed inside. They closed behind me from the push of the air.

Once I was inside, it all came rushing out of me.

The power burst from me and filled the entire room. The snow from earlier was still there. The gust of icy air picked it up and flung it around the room, creating a breathtakingly beautiful frost pattern on the wall.

Was this my life now? Never being able to touch things? Not without them freezing?

I didn't cry, crying only seemed to make it harder to control. Instead I sat there at the center of my frost burst, hugging my forever frozen body to myself, trembling as I desperately tried to hold it all in.

I could never touch Anna again. I could never touch anyone again. Not if I wanted to keep them safe.

* * *

The next night was tense and cold, much like the weather outside. I'd successfully avoided Anna all day but not without going unnoticed. She was back to her usual spritely self minus the cold she had picked up and the fact that father never left her side for more than a minute.

She tried to hold my hand as we walked down the corridor to lessons. Luckily, I saw her coming and casually folded my arms. Later however, she caught me unawares and grabbed my hand in both her own. I didn't even hear what she asked me, I was so startled I ripped my hand from hers like she'd held hot iron to them. My hands were so cold anyway that that's what it felt like to touch hers.

The hands remained out of her reach for the rest of the day or otherwise occupied. I ignored the hurt look on her face. I focused instead on being able to hold things without freezing them. It was tough, it took all of my concentration to hold back the cold. Luckily, I managed to avoid touching too many things all day and those that I did, only managed to acquire the slightest coating of ice. I kept myself calm, emotionless, my true fear hidden away behind a mask.

It was that night however, that my resolve met its first real test.

Although I hadn't slept the night before, sleep was still hard to come by. I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling, remembering when snow had swirled down from it. What if I lost control in my sleep? What if I froze myself and the rest of the castle in ice if I had a bad dream?

The thoughts keeping me from sleep were interrupted as the door to my room opened and shut quietly. I didn't look around. I knew who it was.

Anna toddled over to my bed and tried to lift herself up to crawl in beside me.

"No Anna." I said.

I heard her take a step back. "Elsa?" She'd probably thought I was asleep and she'd be able to surprise me with a hug. My wonderful sister.

I rolled away from her. "Not tonight."

She tried to climb in again and I flinched, pulling myself in around the sudden ball of ice that had formed in my stomach.

"But…I didn't get to play with you today Elsa. Or hold your hand." Anna said sadly.

I squeezed my lips together to keep from whimpering. How was I supposed to respond to that?

_I have to keep her safe, even if she hates me for it._

I felt her reaching for the edge of my blanket, like she wanted to crawl under and slide in next to me. I jerked the blanket out of her hands. "Anna! Just go sleep in your own bed!" I hissed at her, feeling icy air leak out from around my lips. But I still did not turn around. I was watching the thin film of ice slowly crawl up the wall in front of me.

"But…I want to sleep with you Elsa."

I was shivering but not from the cold. My bed was coated in ice, how did she not see that?

"Go back to bed Anna." I told her. I tucked the blanket tightly around myself and ignored her. After a few minutes, I heard her leave the room. It was only once she was gone that I uncurled myself. Fighting the tightly wrapped blanket, I pulled my left hand free and shot the power that had gathered there towards the window. A thin film of ice formed on the glass. I took several deep breaths, calming down.

This was how it had to be now. I could never touch my sister again. Not if I wanted to keep her safe.

Every night after that, I continued to push her away whenever she tried to climb into my freezing bed. Until finally one night, Anna stopped trying.

On that night, I curled up tightly in on myself and let the tears fall from my eyes and the snow drift slowly down from the ceiling.


	3. Part 3: Ice

_Ice_

I hate summer.

So why did my coronation have to be on the summer solstice? Some crap about tradition and good luck. Well, I suppose I'll need as much of that as I can get.

Pulling on my ever-present gloves, I walked to the balcony of my room and watched as the guards opened the gates. Opening up the palace for the first time in eight years. The first time since my father died.

The people of Arendelle began to swarm across the bridge. I saw the artisans of the town leading their young children, sailors returned from voyage at sea, the old baker and his six children pushing large carts of their finest baked goods. Everyone was laughing and dancing, spirits were high from everyone. And why shouldn't they be? Here they were, entering the palace for the first time in years, enjoying the incredibly beautiful weather the heavens had graced us with today.

They were all here to see their new queen take the throne.

As I watched all these people, _my_ people, the cold rose within me and I quickly ripped off my glove. Focusing intensely on breathing, I slowly released the feeling. A large snowflake began to take shape above my palm.

I guided my power with my fingers and thoughts, making it trace intricate spirals and shapes into the flake. It was like needlework, only with ice.

This was the most I ever did when I was alone and it was too much to handle. Forming the patterns calmed me and subsequently released the cold slowly and gently. No one got hurt, no one saw.

Someone knocked on my door. Startled, I dropped the snowflake and it spiraled slowly to the floor. I kicked it over behind my desk so it could melt out of sight and steadied my voice before calling: "Enter."

I pulled the glove back on my hand and regally folded my hands as the palace messenger, Chas entered the room. He respectfully saluted and bowed his head.

"The Duke of Weselton is requesting an audience with you, my lady." He told me, still bent over. He straightened up. "I've shown him to the green room, shall I forget that and tell you it was this room?"

I smiled in gratitude. Good old Chas.

"It's fine. I will see him." I told Chas. I took a seat behind the desk as he bowed again. "Oh, and Chas." I called as he turned to go.

He paused, waiting to hear what I had to say.

"Show the Duke up here." I told him. "I will not be summoned like some servant of his. No offense." I apologized to him.

Chas only grinned. "None taken my lady. How much time do you want before he arrives?"

"Five minutes should do it." I nodded gently at him and he left the room with a wide grin.

I settled into the chair behind the desk, shifting it slightly so that it covered the melting snowflake.

Twelve years. That was twelve years of hiding this power, blaming slip-ups on leaky roofs and open windows. Eight years of wearing special gloves crafted by a witch to stop the ice from seeping through my touch. Eight years of complete isolation within the palace. No one but Anna and the staff for company.

My hands were cold again, I gently tugged off the gloves and cupped my hands together. When I pulled them apart, there was a tiny globe of ice floating between my palms, gently building itself layer by layer.

I worried about my sister constantly. She was rambunctious and headstrong and so optimistic I couldn't help but smile too. She kept me going when I never thought it would be possible. On days when the ice inside of me was too strong for me to bare seeing anyone, seeing her helped me calm down, helped me get it under control. She reminded me of the burden I'd taken on myself, to always keep myself under control. I couldn't hurt her again.

The door to my office flew open and the ice ball in my hands exploded, the fragments raining around me.

"Elsa!"

Despite her annoying habit of never knocking, I could never hate my sister for bursting in on me.

"Not now Anna, I'm busy." I told her, pulling some papers towards me again. My gloves were still sitting next to me but I was under control enough not to need them at the moment. I shifted my legs to make the ice fragments in my skirt join the puddle from the snowflake earlier.

As always, my sister was undeterred. "Sorry, I just have one question." She asked, bouncing up to the desk.

I rolled my eyes as if annoyed but really I wanted to smile. "Fine, what is it?" I had to keep Anna distant. If I showed the slightest hints of affection, she was quick to try to get close to me. And it was always easier to keep her back then to push her away.

Anna tilted her head to the side. "You know Hans?"

I froze and the paper in my hands starting to feel cold. Hans of Weselton? Nephew of the Duke?

"What about him?" I asked Anna, shuffling papers around on my desk to appear busier than I actually was.

Anna swung herself up to sit on the edge of the desk. "He's so handsome…" Anna sighed. "And such a gentleman!"

My hands twitched towards my gloves as the cold feeling began to build again.

"Where did you meet him?" I asked, forcing my teeth to come unclenched. I hadn't seen him in years, he might have changed.

"The docks." Anna replied, oblivious to my unease.

"What were you doing down there?"

She shrugged. "I wanted to see the navy come in. He found me."

I could feel the cold building with each word as she described how she'd met the charismatic man. I focused on breathing and ignored much of what she said.

I knew Hans, we'd played together when I was nine. Well, played was what my father and his uncle had intended. Talking stiffly and him trying to kiss me was what it had ended up being. Apparently father hadn't thought it important to tell me that the Duke and himself were discussing an arranged marriage between Hans and myself in order to merge our two kingdoms. Hans had known, I hadn't. He'd tried to propose to me but I'd freaked out when he grabbed for my hand.

I'd run away from him and released a giant torrent of snow and ice along with a stream of tears. Luckily, this had been in summer so it had all melted before father found me crying in the courtyard.

No more words were spoken about the arranged marriage and the Duke's visits grew fewer and further between, always absent of his nephew. Father never mentioned Hans again.

The episode had made me realize yet another painful reality I had to face. I could never marry. I'd never be able to control my powers in any kind of relationship. I couldn't even hug my sister, how could I be expected to be someone's wife?

I suddenly realized Anna had stopped talking and startled out of my thoughts.

"Sorry, Anna. What?"

"Are you nervous?"Anna asked. "About the coronation."

I was terrified. But I wasn't about to let anyone know that. I had to be strong. I had to be the queen Arendelle needed.

"I'll be fine Anna." I told her, waving my hand.

Her face fell a bit and she looked away from me, swinging her legs. I went back to shuffling papers but really, I was watching her.

Anna had grown up so much since _that night_. She'd become a fine, strong young woman with a body built for adventure and a spirit as fierce as a blazing fire. Unlike me, my sister found the best way to deal with her emotions was to let them go.

But despite the fact that she was now late into her teenage years, she still insisted on acting much younger, keeping her fiery hair done up and her skirts short. She was best known around the castle for the mischief she got up to and out of faster than anyone could keep track.

I dropped my eyes as she turned back to me. Even though I'd successfully kept my distance from Anna and everyone else for twelve years, that didn't mean it had been easy. Anna still clearly wanted a sisterly relationship with me like the one we'd had before I'd discovered what I could do. I could never have that. Even though I wanted it so much.

Suddenly, the door burst open again and in strutted the Duke, accompanied as always by his two hulking henchmen. The entrance startled Anna so much she half-jumped, half-fell off the desk.

Inwardly I sighed. What was it with people not knocking anymore? As soon as I was crowned, I was going to enact a palace law that all of my office doors had to be knocked upon before entering, even if they were empty.

"Duke," I greeted them as they positioned themselves in a line in front of my desk and Anna stood at my right shoulder. I was glad she was staying. "So glad you could make the journey here." I continued. I was talking of course about his trip up the stairs to my office, but saying it so openly would have been impolite.

The Duke smiled and gave me half of a bow. "My Lady Elsa." He purred at me. I felt like vomiting. I don't know what is was about him that just made my skin crawl and my hands itch to shoot ice at him. Perhaps it was just a lingering mistrust after the ill-fated arranged marriage.

He was a short man, even by Arendelle standards, with a large whiskery moustache and a fading head of hair and a large bulbous nose that just made him look like a rat. The large round glasses certainly didn't help.

"No chance you'll reconsider the proposal we made several years ago?" He joked as he straightened up.

I should have known that would be first thing on his mind on the day I took the throne. I gave him a coy smile. "I fear you nephew's thoughts lay elsewhere." I said.

Anna gave me an incredulous look probably due just as much to my joke as to the blunt statement I'd made. I'd avoided joking around Anna for years. I didn't want to tempt her to come any closer to me. I lived in fear of the day when she'd try to be as affectionate with me as she had been when I was seven.

But I did miss her warm hugs.

"And I'm afraid my thoughts are otherwise occupied today as well." I continued, standing up and reaching for my gloves. "As you can imagine, I have much to do before the ceremony."

"Well, yes of course I do." The Duke said, watching me tug on my gloves and wander over to the bookshelf along the wall. "I just wanted to offer my sincere best wishes for today and remind you of the terms of our treaty."

I let none of my feelings show on my face and my fingers kept tracing the spines of last year's export reports.

"I commend you for your punctuality." I told him as I pulled down a random report and flipped through it. "But I hardly need reminding."

I glanced up and caught sight of his reflection in the glass. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing as his face reddened and his chest puffed out in irritation.

Clearly he did not take well to a woman in power.

"Anna, why don't you show the Duke and his men down to their guest suite?" I called to my sister, knowing she'd jump at the opportunity to see Hans again.

I was right.

"Absolutely, Elsa!" Anna practically shouted, jumping right to it. "If you'll just follow me, gentlemen…"

From the reflection in the window, I saw the Duke pause for a moment before following the chipper voice of my sister outside. "Don't put this off." He advised me. "The pact between our nations has always been strong. What happened when you were a child was a bump in that smooth road. I'm willing to look past that and move on but only if you meet my terms."

I raised my head slightly, trying to swallow the lump of fear in my throat. When they shut the door behind them, I was tempted to rip off my gloves and shoot ice out the window until the panic faded. But I couldn't do that, I needed to get myself under control again before the ceremony.

My eyes ached as I stared out the window again, a painful reminder of the sleepless night I'd endured previously. I'd spent most of the previous night in the dungeons, locked in the cuffs, trying to get it all under control for today. No one, not even the head guard knew about my private room under the castle. Where I kept my enchanted cuffs that made it possible for me to endure days like today.

When I'd finally opened them again and left the room just before dawn, there had been a two-foot thick sheet of ice plastering the walls. But as usual, none of it had escaped the room. I'd confirmed this by looking out the only window of my dungeon. Arendelle was still warm and sunny. My secret power was locked away.

* * *

The actually ceremony part of my coronation was pulled off without a hitch. I'd had to remove my gloves for the crowning. That had been the most trying moment of my life, holding back the ice while every eye was on me and I had to focus on keeping myself calm and still. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the bishop placed the crown on my head and handed me the royal objects.

Anna was at my side the whole time. That was what made it all possible.

I remembered how blue her skin had turned, how she had shivered, how her eyes had almost closed forever and the ice just seemed to stop creeping up the scepter and orb in my grip. Finally, I was allowed to put my gloves back on. Nothing had ever felt so good.

I'd agreed to a coronation ball following the ceremony even though I knew it was a recipe for disaster. Everyone would be expecting me to dance but how could I? I'd never learned to dance for the simple reason that I couldn't touch my partners. Luckily, it appeared I would be too busy with my new "queenly duties" to have any "fun".

Anna, on the other hand, loved to dance and took the opportunity to cling to Hans. The two of them spun around the ballroom, giggling and whispering to each other. This was amusing me greatly amid so many handshakes, greetings and congratulations from so many people I wondered how my gloves hadn't frayed.

Several hours into the party however, that all came crashing down around me like the ice ball that had shattered previously.

Anna and Hans stumbled up to me as I said farewell to the Lord of Michester.

"Elsa," Anna began, her arm tucked tightly under Hans'. "As our new queen and my sister, we would like your blessing to get married!"

Every organ in my body took that moment to cease moving completely.

My eyes shot from Anna's beaming face to Hans' gently apologetic one. What was it with Hans and proposing to girls he barely knew? Particularly girls with a direct line to the throne of Arendelle?

"No." I spat through my teeth.

They both looked at me with identical expressions of surprise and disbelief.

"What?" Anna asked.

"I will not give you my blessing." I told them with a pointed look at Hans. He avoided my gaze but did not drop his hold on Anna.

I turned on my heel and walked away.

"The party is over, close the gates." I told Ivan the guard as I passed him. He saluted and walked away to fulfill my wishes. I'd had enough of people for the day. It was time for us to return to our isolation.

"What? No! Elsa! Wait!" I suddenly felt Anna's hand tugging on my own. To my horror, the action caused the glove to slip from my hand. I whirled, trying to catch it but it was still in her hand.

"Give me my glove!" I demanded, making another grab for it.

Anna clutched it to her, knowing I wouldn't leave so long as she had it.

"Elsa, please! Please! I can't live like this anymore!" She begged me.

Her statement shot straight through me and hit me where it hurt most. Because I knew, I knew how much Anna hated living in isolation. I knew how she craved adventure and the world outside, how she loved meeting new people and laughing.

But she couldn't while I was around. Because I had to stay separate. Alone.

I was keeping her here. Holding her prisoner so that I would have some company in my necessary isolation.

This was no life for her.

"Then leave." I told her as harshly as I could.

Hurt, she took a step back.

I turned away from her, hugging myself tightly, keeping my bare hand hidden. I could feel the ice crystals forming around it just as strongly as I could the pain in my heart. My sister was going to leave me, as she should. She wasn't trapped by birth, she didn't have the lives and well-being of hundreds of people to look after. She was free to leave. I just couldn't bear it. The thought of not having her at my side terrified me.

"What did I ever do to you?" Anna shouted after me, undoubtedly drawing the attention of the entire room.

I flinched. "Enough, Anna." I couldn't handle this right now, the emotions, the stares, the whispers. I needed to be alone. Everything that had happened today was just too much. Between the nerves of the coronation and the fight and now Anna's desire to marry Hans, I couldn't keep the feelings down any longer. They were swirling inside of me like a storm waiting to break. My left hand was probably entirely encased in ice by now. I tucked it further under my arm.

Anna would not let it go this time. "No, why? Why do you shut me out?" She demanded. My breathing was picking up, cold such as I had never known was coursing through me, washing over all my limbs, submerging my heart and stomach. I tensed up, trying so desperately to hold it in. I had to be alone. I had to let the cold out before it burst from me. I had to get downstairs. To the cuffs.

"Why do you shut the world out?" Anna continued. _Because I will hurt them. Or they will kill me. _"What are you so afraid of?"

Why did she have to keep pushing me? The anger became too much to hold back. I whirled around. "I said, ENOUGH!" I shouted, my arm swinging as if to silence her.

Wrong arm.

The cold burst from my fingertips in a torrent of sudden anger. It lashed out from me and surrounded me in a great wide arc. Then it manifested itself as a wall of icicles, their sharp tips facing away from me in an impenetrable barricade.

Anna backed away in shock, the deadly tip of an icicle less than an inch from her face.

I clutched the betraying hand to me, anger quickly turning to fear.

There was no denying this, no excuses, no leaky roofs, no open windows. Everyone had seen it. Everyone knew.

Every eye in the ballroom was moving from the icicles to me, every pair of eyes holding a combination of fear, disgust, and betrayal. Hans' gaze held the realization that he finally understood why I'd pushed him away as a child.

The Duke seemed equal parts startled and…pleased.

"Sorcery!" He backed up behind his henchmen. "I might've known there was something dubious going on here…" I didn't like the looks they were giving me.

But at that moment I didn't care. All my attention shifted to Anna. She still held my glove loosely in her hand, her lips parted slightly.

"Elsa…" Her eyes were wide in shock and fear like the rest of them. Except, like Hans' eyes, hers also held a hint of realization. At that moment, I knew the outburst had stirred a memory deep within her past. I memory I wished I could forget every day.

I fumbled behind me until my gloved hand found the doorknob.

For the second time, my _gift_ had nearly killed my sister. And that was the one thing I feared most. I couldn't lose her.

The cuffs would not be able to hold me this time. I had to get away.

* * *

Thanks for reading!

Peace!

wolfchic011

11/27/13


End file.
